The FINANCIAL -- Tbilisi , Georgia. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is training Georgian bankers on managing risks and improving their credit portfolios, thus helping them mitigate the impact of the financial crisis and expand lending to the real economy.
"In cooperation with Ernst&Young and the National Bank of Georgia , IFC today hosted a one-day workshop in Tbilisi for senior bankers from 14 financial institutions. The seminar is a part of IFC’s broader crisis-response initiative which is focused on strengthening local banks and companies to help them cope with the consequences of the financial crisis," IFC informs.
Zurab Gvasalia, the President of the Association of Banks of Georgia, said: “IFC’s experts today delivered a very useful session on the best international practices on risk management and distressed assets recovery. The sooner the Georgian banking sector is able to fully resolve the problem of non-performing loans and clear banks’ balance sheets, the sooner we move to a new stage of development.”
The training focused on transfer of distressed assets with a view to stimulating new lending and also included portfolio management.
“The main problem of the banking sector today is bad assets management. IFC will help banks to adopt best practices of international experience on NPL resolution in Georgia. These methods could then be applied in other countries of the Europe and Central Asia region that are looking for a way to recover from the crisis,” said Garth Bedford, IFC’s Financial Market Crisis Response Project Manager.
The Financial Market Crisis Response Project was launched in August, 2009 to assist financial institutions in the region to recover from the crisis. The project has already delivered 10 seminars to about 360 participants to help banks stimulate new lending by developing strategies on non-performing loans recovery. IFC’s experts have also advised seven banks on assessing and quantifying credit risks by conducting comprehensive diagnostics and supported them in implementing the recommendations.
IFC is the only international financial institution focused exclusively on the private sector, the engine of sustainable development in emerging markets. Along with IBRD, it is currently seeking a capital increase to strengthen its ability to create opportunity for the poor in developing countries—including by addressing the problem of distressed assets.
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